Shreyas Iyer's 97 and Shashank Singh's 44 play game changer as Punjab Kings beat Shubman Gill's Gujarat Titans by 11 runs

Punjab Kings-led Shreyas Iyer defeated Shubman Gill's Gujarat Titans by 11 runs in match 5 of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which is taking place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, on March 25 (Tuesday). Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 97 and blitz 44-run cameo from Shashank Singh helped PBKS post 243/5. Later, GT could only score 232 runs.

Iyer, Shashank power to 243/5

Punjab Kings posted a massive total of 243/5 on the scoreboard with the help of captain Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 97 and blitz 44-run cameo from Shashank Singh. Shreyas Iyer came to bat in the fourth over itself after Prabhsimran Singh was dismissed by Rabada. He hit a four on his very first ball and made his intentions clear. He kept on progressing the scoreboard and first got the support from Priyansh Arya who scored 47 off 23. Iyer completed his fifty in just 27 balls.

GT made a little comeback by taking a couple of wickets in the middle, thanks to Sai Kishore, who was the only GT bowler that did not get smashed all over the park. However, this did not stop Iyer, who was in the clear mood to lead his team to a gigantic score. Iyer was batting on 66 runs at the end of the 16th over, but then in the 17th over, which was bowled by Prasidh Krishna, he was hit in the ribs on the very first ball. However, Iyer smashed the next five balls for 24 runs. It included three sixes and one four. He entered the 90-run mark by the end of the 17th over.

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Shashank appeared set from the first ball itself. He made the most of the death overs and added lots of runs in the final few overs. Iyer was on 97 at the end of the 19th over. It appeared that he might be able to complete his ton but both players showed selfless efforts. Shashank played the final 6 balls and scored 23 runs in them. Iyer missed the chance to reach his maiden IPL ton, but it allowed PBKS to post a massive total of 243/5 on the scoreboard. This is also Punjab's second-highest IPL score. However, this upset some fans as they started abusing Shashank on social media for not allowing Iyer to hit a ton.

GT fail to chase despite great start

Captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan gave their team a good start in the chase as they joined a 61-run opening partnership inside the powerplay. However, Gill got out after scoring 33 runs off 14 balls. Then Sudharsan joined another good stand with Buttler and even completed his fifty. Later, Arshdeep provided his team with a crucial breakthrough by dismissing Sai on 74 runs off 41 balls, and even ended his 84-run stand with Buttler.

Buttler completed his fifty in 31 balls and kept the Titans in the fight, but got out on the final ball of the 18th over. GT needed 44 runs in the final two overs. This turned out to be too much for the Titans. GT failed to capitalise their starts in the end or you can say, PBKS made a great comeback with the ball in the end. In the end, Punjab secured a big win in their opening game.